Japanese difference. Difference between Japanese and Chinese

To the question What is the difference? Chinese from Japan? given by the author Staff the best answer is Almost everyone! These two are perfect different languages. They're not even related. Chinese belongs to Sino-Tibetan language family. Japanese - Japanese-Ryukyuan languages. Phonetics are completely different. IN Japanese it's lighter. In Japanese, all sounds are clearer, even similar to European ones. In Chinese, all sounds differ slightly. They are, so to speak, nuanced. For example, there is T with aspiration, T without aspiration, P with aspiration, P without it, etc.. . And besides, in Chinese there are 4 tones - intonations with which words are pronounced. And the same combination of letters, pronounced with different intonation has absolutely different meaning. For example, MA can mean “horse”, “mother”, or even “scold”...depending on the tone with which you pronounce it. There is no such thing in Japanese. Their writing is partly similar, since the Japanese borrowed some Chinese characters. But the same character in Japanese and Chinese can mean the same thing, but be pronounced completely differently... In addition, the Japanese also have katakana and hiragana - two alphabets, each icon in which means a certain syllable. That is, it is similar to writing words with letters. The grammar of these languages ​​is completely different. In Chinese, most words are one or two syllables. In Japanese, so to speak, more long words))) You can tell the difference by the sound... Japanese sounds more “sharp”, “clear”... They also have a fairly clear P... And there is no sound L))) In Chinese, when you hear it, these differences in tones are immediately noticeable. There are also a lot of hissing sounds... nasal sounds... also it is "quiet", no ringing sounds such as Russian R, Z, D, etc.... In general, if you hear it once, you can’t confuse it)) You can distinguish it by writing. It is not easy to distinguish Japanese hieroglyphic writing from Chinese if you do not know these languages... But if katakana or hirokana appears in the text, it is definitely not Chinese... For example:<<<Это японский) :))ブエノスアイレス <<<он же

Answer from Moon Elff[master]
Possibly the same as Russian from Ukrainian)

Answer from Novoyasenevsky Maniac[guru]
Chinese does not have katakana or hiragana.

Answer from Vulgar[newbie]
Japanese speak Japanese, Chinese speak Chinese))))

Answer from chevron[newbie]
Unlike Chinese, Japanese is an entire art; not only do you also need to learn kanji, it has its own alphabet, which consists of hiragana and katakana, and there is also romanji. and after that you definitely need to learn grammar and correct sentence composition, the Japanese language is specific and does not tolerate ambiguity. As for Chinese, it is advisable to have an ear for music and preferably an absolute one, since it has 4 distinctive tones, each syllable can have from 1 to 4 tone variants, but incorrect pronunciation of a word changes the meaning of the word, simple grammar is enough, and besides you need to learn 4000 hieroglyphs and in Japanese 800 these numbers indicate use in everyday life, but if you want to be educated, then you need to know in China 6000 and in Japanese 1024

Answer from Irina[master]
because Chinese will soon become the second official language in the world after English))

Answer from Labyrinth[expert]
Well, first of all, naturally. need to mark. that these are related languages ​​and they were born from the same ancient language branch. But! In sound, the Chinese language is softer and “meowing” (as we would say), while the Japanese language is quite rough and hard, but beautiful in its own way. As was said, the Japanese language uses two “alphabet”: Katakana and Hiragana; their analogue is also in Chinese, but is not so widespread. That is, Katakana and Hiragana can be safely used without learning all the hieroglyphs; it replaces most of the hieroglyphs in the Japanese language. The characters in both are more the same, but there are still differences in the writing of Chinese characters - (they are often more complex and look intricate.

Mysterious and unpredictable for a European, Japan is a tasty morsel for those tourists who want to spend their vacation in perhaps the most unusual places on the planet. The homeland of samurai, anime and spectacular martial arts is annually among the most popular countries for tourism.

But what is it that more and more tourist groups find so attractive about Japan? For many, the reason is a unique and authentic culture that has developed over millennia; others are attracted by the modern world of skyscrapers, robotics and futuristic cars. And all this is one country occupying several small islands in the Pacific Ocean.

The Vipgeo portal has selected unusual and interesting facts about Japan for those planning a trip to this country.

Mentality and characteristics of the population

99.9% of the local population is Japanese, so the attitude towards foreigners here is completely special. European appearance is considered very unusual; on the street, teenagers can run up to a person with blond hair and blue eyes to take a photo with him.

However, foreigners are very reluctantly allowed into the internal life of the country - they are loved as tourists, but have difficulty being accepted as Japanese citizens.

The famous samurai honor, Bushido, is still alive in Japan - there are known cases when politicians resigned from their positions due to the fact that they did not fulfill their election promises.

The Japanese are generally considered a very hardworking nation - it is not customary to take vacations here, and they often stay late at work.

There is no concept of “senior” in Japan. By law, every employment contract is concluded with a person for life, and the employee can hold a position as long as his health allows him to perform his duties.

Etiquette is sacred for the Japanese; failure to comply with the rules of good manners by a foreigner can cause a storm of indignation among local residents.

In homes and a number of public institutions in Japan, it is customary to take off your shoes. Having taken off your shoes, you must turn them with your toes towards the exit - this is the requirement of the ancient custom.

The Japanese believe that it is almost impossible for a foreigner to learn their language, so the minimum knowledge of the language delights them.

There are very few curse words in Japanese. Sometimes the word “fool”, said with a special intonation, can cause a storm of indignation if it was uttered in polite society.

"Cat" cafe

Important: The most dangerous place in Japanese cities is the subway. It is during the rush hour rush that sexually anxious individuals regularly appear in such places. Every year, hundreds of thousands of women and even men turn to the police after such harassment.

In the subways, there is one of the most specific Japanese professions - pushers. These are specially trained people who literally push people into crowded carriages so that the doors of the train close and it moves off.

The Japanese are a social nation. Here it is customary to live like everyone else and not stand out, although modern youth rejects these rules too.

The Japanese really don’t like to say a categorical “no,” so the answer “maybe” can be regarded as “no.”

Japanese people are very shy, sometimes they cannot admit their feelings directly.

Despite the formal restrictions, public baths, saunas and hot spring pools are very popular among the Japanese. Some of these establishments do not have women's and men's rooms - everyone washes together.

The American occupation after World War II left a big mark on Japanese culture. The Japanese even invented katakana - a special hieroglyphic system that is used to record English borrowings in the language.

Attitude to food and cuisine

The cheapest food in Japan is seafood. It is a common joke here that as long as there are fish in the ocean, no one in Japan will die of hunger.

And the most expensive products are fruits and melons. For some varieties of peaches you will have to pay $5 per piece, and “elite” varieties of square watermelons or melons can reach $1000 per kilogram.

The Japanese's favorite breakfast is steamed rice with natto soybeans.

Unlike the Chinese, the Japanese do not overuse spices, as they consider them harmful to the stomach. Instead, several dozen soy sauces are used.

The word “sushi,” which is popular in Russia, is rarely used by the Japanese. Each type of rice and fish roll has its own name - uramaki, futomaki, nigirizushi, etc.

Animal meat has long been banned in Japan due to religious beliefs. Now in most restaurants you can safely order pork or beef prepared in a way that is not prepared anywhere else in the world.

Very often the Japanese resort to food coloring. For example, pink ginger is obtained only after coloring - its natural color is pale yellow. And flying fish caviar, which is so popularly used for various types of sushi, is generally colorless.

On the shelves of Japanese grocery stores there are some very strange products - horseradish-flavored chocolate, blueberry-flavored potato chips and even carbonated tomato juice.

The attitude towards drinks in Japan is very specific. Here you can try cucumber-flavored Pepsi or coffee-flavored Coca-Cola.

Sake rice vodka is actually not vodka at all. It is prepared using a unique method from wort and malt, pasteurizing and fermenting. In terms of production technology, sake is closest to beer.

Well, beer itself in Japan is sold only in glass bottles of the same shape, which the buyer must return to the store for reuse.

Pepsi with cucumber flavor

Other facts

Japan is the only Empire today.

The dynasty of emperors in Japan has never been interrupted - the current Emperor Akihito is a direct descendant of Jimmu, who founded Japan in 711 BC.

Japan is prohibited from having a standing army or participating in wars.

Tokyo is the safest metropolis in the world - here six-year-old children can safely use public transport on their own.

The school year in Japan, unlike most countries, begins in April, with cherry blossoms.

Anyone can get a higher education in Japan - you just need to score the required number of points in the entrance exams. Tests are carried out in special certification centers, and in most specialties they resemble our Unified State Exam - applicants take tests, and with the result obtained they can apply to any university.

Japanese traffic lights used to use blue instead of green. The color was changed long ago, but the habit of calling traffic lights blue (“aoi”) remains.

In street vending machines in Japan you can buy anything from Bibles to pencils.

Japan is home to a huge number of martial arts - karate, judo, aikido and many others were invented here.

Japan is considered a very traditional country - it is still not so difficult to meet a woman in a kimono, and local traditional houses remain a normal alternative to apartment housing. However, young people are increasingly influenced by the West, so that many traditions are losing their influence, although they are not forgotten.

If a Japanese person laughs, this is the first sign that he is nervous. It is customary here to respond to sad news with a smile, and long and continuous silence is the first sign of respect for a person and even some degree of admiration.

The thinness of the Japanese is a common reason for very serious complexes about appearance. In Japan, it is customary to look at sumo wrestlers almost with admiration.

Another reason to feel complex is the lack of body hair among Japanese men. Often young guys use false chest hair, thereby emphasizing their “masculinity.”

The attitude towards marriage in Japan is very serious. People rarely get married here before the age of 30, and the average age of childbearing for Japanese women is 34 years.

Japanese youth are distinguished by great extravagance - there are a huge number of subcultures and movements that stand out with bright clothes, crazy hairstyles and various accessories.

Most Japanese do not play games on the computer, preferring Sony Play Stations and others. This is explained by the high level of piracy on the Internet and strict copyright laws. For distributing illegal copies of video games, you can get a very real prison sentence.

For many Japanese, anime is a source of national pride. Famous characters, including Pokemon Pikachu, can be seen on board the national airlines.

Formally, prostitution is prohibited in Japan, but brothels have not gone away. Officially, Japanese call girls charge clients for massages, pleasant company, and even kisses - for everything except sex.

By the way, not all brothels employ Japanese women - local pimps prefer to send emigrants from the Philippines and China to this work. Tourists may not be allowed into brothels with Japanese girls - they are only for their own people.

The Japanese's favorite television programs are cooking shows. According to statistics, 70% of all TV channels in the country must have at least one such program in their broadcast schedule.

Japan has its own superstitions about body reactions. For example, if a person sneezes, they say that someone just remembered him, and if someone has a nosebleed, this is a reason for a joke with sexual overtones.

The number 4, when talking about superstitions, is actually considered unlucky. The hieroglyphic outline corresponds to the spelling of the word “death”, therefore in schools, hospitals and any institutions there is never an office with a number where this figure would be present.

Important: The most dangerous place in Japanese cities is the subway. It is during the rush hour rush hour that sexually horny people regularly appear in such places

It is not so easy to get to Japan on your own, so the best option here is to travel through a travel agency. Fortunately, today many travel agencies offer trips to the Land of the Rising Sun. You don’t even need to look for tours on your own - just contact travel agencies in your city or call 8-800-100-30-24 to select a tour.

Each of us has found ourselves in a difficult situation when we see an Asian, especially in a big city. Many wondered, “Who is this? Chinese? Japanese? Or maybe Korean? And it would be impolite to come up and ask, or to look closely for a long time to find at least some clue. What's the difference between them? Many people often do not know that Chinese, Korean and Japanese are not the same languages. In this article we will try to lift the veil of secrecy.

We have all often heard from our adult generation, or people not versed in Asian culture, “They all look the same.” But they are very different from each other and not only in appearance. We will look at several similarities and differences between the three nationalities.

Similarities: 1. Skin

The statement that the Chinese, Japanese and Koreans have different skin colors is erroneous.

Their skin color and texture are similar, it’s just that in South Korea, for example, pale (European) skin is in fashion, and therefore guys and girls empty the shelves of cosmetic stores, buying whitening products and sunscreens, while in Japan some subcultures ( Gyaru, Kogyaru, Yamamba) on the contrary, spend a lot of time in the solarium, and in general white skin is held in high esteem. But if you look at ordinary middle-aged employees, you will notice that their skin color is the same.

2. Body structure

Many people believe that all Asians are small and thin, and in old age they also become crooked. This is again not true, Asians, like all people, can be fat, tall, athletic, slim or short. It’s just that the percentage of very overweight people in Asia is much lower than in America or Russia (due to the popularity of fast food and fatty foods in recent years, while Asian food is lower in calories). In terms of height, Koreans can be called the tallest of the three because Korean cuisine has always included nutritious meat on the menu, while in China and Japan they ate mainly fish, seafood and rice. And due to the fact that in the last 50 years the Japanese and Chinese began to constantly eat meat and their average height increased by almost 10-15 cm.

Differences: 1. Face

This is where the most difficult part begins, because there are differences in the structure of faces, but due to the development of plastic surgery, it is often difficult to tell which is which. Koreans have wide and slightly square faces, pronounced cheekbones, narrow eyes with raised corners and a single eyelid, sometimes they are born with a double eyelid, but most often the fold above the eye is the result of surgery. The nose and mouth are mostly small. The Chinese have round, flat faces, with flattened noses and large eyes (compared to Koreans). The eyelids are mostly single. The mouth is also small, but the lower lip is plump. As for the Japanese, their faces are elongated, their eyes are almond-shaped and the corners are downturned, their noses are high and flattened, their mouths are wide and their lips are thin. These descriptions can be attributed to one or another nation, because due to mixing, the characteristic facial features change, even if the father is Japanese and the mother is Korean, the child will be something in between. Mestizos often successfully mix European and Asian features in their appearance.

From left to right: Koreans, Chinese, Japanese

2. Hairstyle

Hairstyle fashion in such close countries varies greatly. The Chinese pay tribute to European fashion, and shaved temples and combed hair to the side or back are popular among men. Sometimes, instead of a comb-over, they make small ponytails or buns at the back. Or medium-length hair (for men), combed back.

Chinese Japanese

Korean guys prefer bowl hairstyles, with bangs in front of the eyes or combed to the side. Koreans prefer haircuts, while the Japanese love hairstyles with lots of wax (which can be bought at any hairdresser) and strands sticking out in different directions.

Korean

Each strand on the Japanese young guy’s head is neatly arranged and does not flutter in the wind. If you see an Asian guy with hair like a Final Fantasy character, know that he's Japanese. Japanese idols and visual performers love similar hairstyles. It’s more difficult with women, because European fashion has greatly influenced the hairstyles of Asian girls. Chinese girls love natural, straight and long hair. Of course, you can meet girls with curly hair, dyed hair, and short hair, but most often Chinese women prefer simplicity.

Chinese Japanese

Korean women like to dye their hair chestnut or dark brown, give their hair more volume and curl the ends a little. Also, recently, bob and bob haircuts, ashy color and slightly careless tufts of hair at the back of the head have come into fashion.

Korean

Japanese women are the most versatile in their hairstyles: here you have blond hair, buns, ponytails or braids, and a very short bob. And in Harajuku you can meet Japanese women with hair of all the colors of the rainbow.

3. Clothes

Everyone loves to dress fashionably, and the street fashion of South Korea, Japan and China is very rich. But you can still see some differences. The Chinese love simplicity of style and light formality (jackets, shirts, almost dress pants).

Chinese
Korean

The Japanese try to be either cute (girls wear white/pink dresses with stockings, loose clothes in warm colors and low heels or completely flat soles, and guys wear sweaters and turtlenecks and straight trousers), or, on the contrary, brutal (girls wear men's clothes, and guys wear bloomers with large sneakers and long T-shirts).

Japanese

Well, the street fashion of Harajuku is generally a separate topic, where you can meet anyone, from a fan of visual kei in skinny leather pants with boots on an unrealistic platform to a cute one. Koreans prefer sexuality and daring. Girls try to wear heels, short skirts/shorts, and translucent things. Guys love either black, white and gray clothes, tight-fitting trousers, shirts or T-shirts and caps, or long jackets/sweaters and a more informal style. Koreans also love shapeless long coats and hats.Also, in any of these countries you can meet girls and guys in national costumes on holidays like Coming of Age Day, Lunar New Year, Chuseok, etc.

4. Makeup

This feature can only be attributed to girls, but Asian women also wear makeup differently.

Chinese Japanese

The main goal of all Asian women when applying makeup is to enlarge their eyes. Chinese women love lush eyelashes and black pencil, sometimes shades of delicate colors, and slightly thick straight eyebrows. Naturally, Chinese women, like Koreans and Japanese women, take care of their skin, trying to make it paler. Avoid using bright lipsticks.

Korean

Korean women prefer invisible makeup, tinted eyelashes, white pencil and brown eyeshadow. They like to paint their lips with transparent or pink glosses, and their eyebrows are painted with a house. Japanese women are the most original: they enlarge their eyes with thick (sometimes false) eyelashes at the top and bottom, draw lines under the eyes first with a white pencil and then even lower with a black one, use eyelid glue, wear magnifying lenses, and some Harajuku models sculpt their eyelashes higher or below the lash line, which also makes the eyes appear larger. Japanese women also love blush and subtle glosses to create a kawaii look.

5. Behavior

Asians can be distinguished from each other not only by their appearance, but also by their manners. In Japan and Korea, the culture of bowing is highly developed. In Japan, it is mandatory to bow when meeting or meeting, both in formal settings and on the street. Friends are already more free in their behavior, either waving their hands when they meet, or nodding, as if greeting. Koreans behave the same way in a formal setting, but in an informal setting they are more likely to simply nod to a new person as a sign of respect. Foreigners can be introduced in our manner: with handshakes or hugs. The Chinese are more open and handshakes, even at business meetings, are commonplace.

Also, when communicating in public places, Koreans and Japanese try to speak quietly so as not to disturb others: they do not talk on the phone in transport and do not listen to loud music on headphones for the same reason. There is no such thing in China, so Chinese tourists are quite noisy.

6. Language

Well, the last and most striking feature is, of course, languages. First, I'll tell you a little about writing. In China, only hieroglyphs are used, there are no alphabets or alphabets.

Chinese letter Korean letter

In Japan, as you know, there are hieroglyphs (kanji) and a syllabary with two types of writing (hiragana and katakana). In Korea, they use the alphabet (Hangul) and in some cases hieroglyphs (Hanja).

Japanese letter

But we will not focus on writing, because oral speech and its sound are important to us, because by it you can also distinguish representatives of different nationalities. The Chinese language has four tones, and the choice of tone determines the meaning of a word, so Chinese speech sounds very emotional and abrupt. Japanese speech, in turn, sounds measured and calm due to the lack of strong semantic stress in words, and the syllabic composition of words makes the language softer. The Korean language sounds harsh due to the abundance of letters “kh”, “chh”, “th” with a strong “x”. When Koreans talk to each other, it sometimes seems as if a fight is about to break out.

In this article I tried to touch on the most striking differences, and I hope this will help you avoid getting into trouble. This situation happened with my sensei when he was walking on Red Square and a guy came up to him and said: Konnichiwa (Japanese), Ni Hao (Chinese), Annyonghaseyo (Korean), because he didn’t know who was in front of him, and decided that's how to get out.

If you have anything to add, write your options in the comments.

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A person interested in the East and everything connected with it will sooner or later inevitably wonder how the Japanese language differs from the Chinese language. After all, to most people these languages ​​seem very similar, if not identical. But this impression is deceptive: there are actually a lot of differences between Japanese and Chinese.

Japanese– the language of the Japanese, the official language of the state of Japan, spoken by about 112 million people. Chinese- accordingly, the language of the Chinese, the official language of the PRC, a means of communication for approximately 800 million people.

Comparison

Interestingly, writing did not exist in Japan for a long time, so the hieroglyphs were borrowed from more developed and ancient China. So now in the Japanese language, almost every character has both Chinese and Japanese readings. Moreover, a hieroglyph that is the same for Japanese and Chinese can mean the same thing, but at the same time be pronounced completely differently. For example, the word “Korea” in Japanese will be read as “Kankoku”, and in Chinese as “Hango”. In the Japanese language, almost all hieroglyphs (kanji) have not one, but two or more sounds: it all depends on what words and combinations they are used in. Chinese characters (Hanzi) have only one pronunciation option. Today in Japan, about 2 thousand hieroglyphs are the most commonly used, while in China at least 3 and a half thousand hieroglyphs are used.

In Chinese, words are mostly one-syllable or two-syllable. In Japanese, words have more syllables. In addition, the Japanese language has two additional alphabets - katakana and hiragana, each icon in which represents a specific syllable. In the Chinese language, everything is written entirely in hieroglyphs; in Japanese text, in addition to hieroglyphs, the syllabary alphabet is constantly found. If we talk about visual differences, then Japanese writing has a lot of semi-rounded, smooth lines, and easy-to-write hieroglyphs. Chinese characters are more complex in appearance and are often square in shape.

How is Japanese different from Chinese?

In Chinese, words are unchangeable. In the Japanese language, word formation occurs by attaching various affixes (prefixes, suffixes, endings) to the root of a word or its base; an auxiliary syllabary is used to write them. In the Chinese language there are no participles and gerunds, and there are also no tenses, genders, numbers, verb conjugations, declensions and cases, but Japanese has all this. Therefore, grammatically, Chinese is much simpler than Japanese.

Phonetically, these languages ​​are also different; in this case, Chinese is more difficult. In it, all the sounds differ from each other very slightly; speech is built on nuances, changes in tones, stress, aspiration, lisp, pronunciation, that is, it is a very musical language. In Chinese, the same combination of sounds, depending on intonation, can have completely different meanings. The Japanese language has a small range of sounds, so, on the contrary, several words with completely different spellings and meanings can be read the same. What the interlocutor means becomes clear only from the context. The Japanese language sounds “clearer” than Chinese, it is closer in pronunciation to European languages ​​and lower in tone, it has sounds similar to “r”, “d”, “z”, which are not found in Chinese. In the Japanese language, everything is strictly according to the rules: both how it is written and how it is pronounced.

Conclusions website:

1. Chinese characters have only one pronunciation; in Japanese, almost all characters have several sounds.
2. In Chinese, words are mostly one or two syllables, while in Japanese they are polysyllabic. In addition, Japanese writing uses syllabic alphabet - katakana and hiragana. Therefore, the Chinese text consists of solid characters, while the Japanese text contains hieroglyphs interspersed with syllabic writing.
3. Chinese characters are often square and complex in appearance, while Japanese ones are simpler and rounded.
4. In grammatical terms, Chinese is much simpler than Japanese: it has no cases, genders, numbers, tenses, declensions, verb conjugations, participles or gerunds. Unlike Japanese, words in Chinese are unchangeable.
5. Phonetically, Chinese is more complex than Japanese. It is built on changes in tonality, stress, and aspiration.

Japanese school is divided into junior, middle and senior. Children who are 6 years old on April 1st enter the first grade of primary school. After six years of study, they take entrance exams and move on to the first grade of secondary school, where they study for another three years. At this point, after 9 years of study, compulsory free education ends, and schoolchildren have a wide choice of where to enroll: high school for three years, college (vocational school), university for four or two years.

There is no school uniform in primary school, but in secondary school it becomes compulsory.

Beginning of the school year

Our school has four floors, and the layout of the classes inside also corresponds to the “internal levels”: the first and second grades study on the first floor, the third and fourth - on the second, the fifth and sixth - on the third. On the fourth floor they have classrooms for natural science (essentially chemistry), works, etc. As in Russia, in Japan in the lower grades there is a class teacher who teaches all lessons at once.

With the transition to the upper floor, the class chooses a new motto, for example, this: “Be like the sun: so that not only you yourself feel good and warm, but so that others can also be warm.” In Japanese, “sun” is “taiyo:”; to write it in alphabet, you need four characters: “ta”, “i”, “yo” and “u” (for the length of the syllable “yo”). And for each of these four signs, the children came up with another decoding (my translation, somewhat free):

"ta" sukeau - akarui nakama - "to be friends, to help each other"
"i"ronna koto-ni chosen shi yaritogeru - "set various goals and achieve them"
"yo"ku manabi yoku asobe - "well learned - have a good rest"
"u"so, ijime, kenka wa shinai - "Don't lie, don't mock, don't fight"

As at the beginning of every year, the children wrote down their goals for the year in school and in life. This year the picture was a rocket, in the window of which you had to draw yourself. Under the image of yourself you had to write your personal motto (thus, there were three mottos: school, class and personal). Goals, as a rule, are simple and achievable: study well, learn to run fast, write beautifully and accurately - this is at school, and at home - help around the house, eat breakfast quickly, remember to wash your hands before eating, etc.

Japanese school

Parent meetings at a Japanese school

Once a trimester, the teacher meets with each parent individually to talk about the child’s studies, behavior and other characteristics (at parents’ meetings, they hardly talk about the children’s studies, much less names). The fundamental difference from meetings with a teacher in primary school is the presence of the child himself. So they both praise and scold the child in front of him, so that he can hear and know. However, I have never observed (neither myself, nor when I acted as a translator for other parents) a teacher outright scolding. The communication scheme is always approximately the same: at the beginning it is said at length and in detail what the child has done well and what a great fellow he is. And then they say something less flattering, as if it were just a matter of words.

Recently at the school there was a meeting from the parent committee for parents of two classes: they talked about the upcoming trip to Tokyo and - since everyone was gathered - in general about the school, about the students, and so on. At the entrance, everyone who came was given pieces of paper on which the plan of the event and some aspects of preparation for the trip were written, as well as juice and cookies. Like, thank you, dear parents, for coming, here’s a cookie for you. At the same time, no one opened the cookies or the juice; everything was solemnly taken home. I have watched.

The senseis in charge of the second grades complained that the children have not been behaving well enough lately: they are bringing things to school that are “not necessary” (the things themselves were not named, but I know of them, for example, watches, cell phones, comics) , but not only that, recently - horror, horror - they began to periodically find even in boys' toilets - be afraid, be afraid - candy wrappers and chewing gum. Yes. Decline of morals, nightmare and horror. After listing examples of such a decline in morals, a rhetorical question was asked: “And how can children go to third grade with such behavior?!” (meaning the third grade of high school, corresponding to our ninth - approx. Maternity.ru) They said that some boys sometimes don’t even button the top two buttons of their jacket. Parents were asked to carry out educational work at home.

Regarding the school trip, the two most difficult questions for teachers were whether to allow cameras and what kind of clothing to allow. Regarding clothes, they decided that the children would wear uniforms on the trip, so as not to ruin their already broke parents on new clothes, and at the same time to reduce the noise level in the hotel and avoid fashion shows in the rooms. But after much torment, they decided to allow cameras, but carried out educational work with schoolchildren, and asked parents to also carry out educational work. In addition to their own worries about the value and possibility of breakage of the cameras, teachers were worried about the fact that the photographs might end up on the Internet.

They told me to give the children up to 15,000 yen for entrance fees and some food. Partially - because they will be partially fed. The total cost of a three-day trip exceeds $1,000. I don’t feel sorry for the money, I feel sorry for the fact that for this money the child will go to Tokyo, which he already more or less knows. I console myself with the fact that they will have excursions to places where we have not been yet: to production, to parliament and to Takarazuka. Well, again - what difference does it make where you go, if it’s in a crowd and it’s fun.

Of course, you are not allowed to take cell phones with you. In order for parents to also keep an eye on their children (who sometimes try to take the phone with them), we were told a terrible story about a girl who took a cell phone with her. The teachers didn’t know about this phone, but the others knew and harbored a grudge against the girl. And then for the rest of the year they could not forgive her for this. Again, horror, horror.

Japanese Junior School Graduation

Clubs and sections in a Japanese school

Secondary school quickly presented the child with a difficult life dilemma: the school has a bunch of clubs where students study almost every day after school, and in some places even on Saturdays. But from all the clubs you need to choose either one sports or two creative ones. Other options are not considered even as an exception. Each club strives to attract as many first-graders as possible, for which demonstration classes are organized, they are invited to try to work out together, all this is very bright and attractive.

Even before graduating from elementary school, the child knew that he would go to the kendo club, even when we were choosing a school, the first thing he did was ask if there was kendo there. He went on excursions to other clubs only because it was necessary. And he managed to get into the drawing circle. How he liked it there: how sensei draws, and how high school students can draw, and how he was invited to draw. And the drawing circle is not compatible with the kendo club. At all. Well, it’s not that simple. And they ask you to decide immediately for three years in advance, although, of course, it will be possible to change it later, but in this case, as they say, “a sediment will remain.”

This is the dilemma. The child tried to communicate with the teachers, ask to make an exception, but the rules in Japan are not flexible at all, so I signed a paper for him to participate in a kendo club, and was puzzled by searching for city drawing clubs.

About school holidays

The school year in Japan begins in April, and students take exams in March.

Several differences between the Japanese school and ours.

1. There are no cleaners at school - the children themselves clean the classrooms

2. As a rule, there are no substitute teachers. If suddenly the teacher gets sick, the children study on their own and no one is looking after them

3. School usually starts at half past eight in the morning. Every Monday, before the start of classes, students line up and the school principal speaks to them for 15 minutes.

4. Unlike Russian schools, in Japan each class is assigned its own classroom (in Russia, the classroom is assigned to the teacher). Therefore, it is not the students, but the teachers who walk from office to office between lessons.

5. All Japanese schoolchildren, except the youngest, are required to wear a uniform. Moreover, each school has its own uniform.

6. Foreign teachers are warned about the strange children's game of kancho. The player puts his palms together with his index fingers extended and tries to thrust them into the opponent's anus when he is busy with something else and does not notice the attacker. They can joke like that with a teacher via

7. To protect against intruders, there is a special device - sasumata - a special aluminum pole for fixing a bad person

And from an interesting article about Japanese education:

The career race in Japan begins approximately from the moment you stop walking under yourself.

After primary school (6 years) you need to go to a good secondary school, after secondary school (3 years) - to higher education (also 3 years). Just do it: no one will automatically transfer you. At each stage there is a real massacre, culminating in admission to the university (this stage is affectionately called 入学戦争, [nyu:gaku senso:] - “war for admission”).

All this gave rise to a developed network of additional education institutions - “juku” and, pardon the expression, “yobiko”. An ordinary Japanese schoolchild studies at school in the morning, then he has “bukatsu” (extracurricular activities, interest clubs), then he goes to juku, after which he returns home to do homework and sleep.

Juku- a very expensive pleasure.

A schoolchild who does not attend juku, as a rule, loses to their regular clients trained for tests, so even a free secondary education creates a burden of 20% of the average family budget. This is if there is one child in the family, and if he goes to a free school. Thus, an annual course in the popular “Kawaii Juku” for parents of a high school student will cost around 1 million yen (400,000 rubles).

One juku is not always enough

Having passed this stage, the graduate passes the exams.

They are of two types. Centralized exam (local Unified State Examination) and entrance to the university. To enter a state university, you must pass both exams, and mediocre results on the centralized exam (90% and below) automatically exclude a number of top universities from the applicant. “Well, now only Chiba is shining for you,” is a standard saying. Chiba is a provincial city east of Tokyo.

Everyone strives to get into state universities.

There are two reasons. First: education there is of better quality, and a diploma provides an advantage in employment. The second reason is financial. State universities receive subsidies from the budget, and tuition there is much cheaper.

A simple example: 6 years of study at the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Tokyo costs around 3.5 million yen (1.3 million rubles). 6 years at a similar faculty at a mediocre private university, Toho, costs more than 30 million yen.

Therefore, applicants from all over the country are entering into a merciless struggle for places in top public universities